Alone in Italy
by serpentmaster13
Summary: When five year old Mario and Luigi wake up in Italy with no prior memory except for each others names. Ten years later, Mario is an infamous name, but one that is more commonly known as The Scourge of Italy. Rated T for Violence
1. Chapter 1

**New Story, YAY!**

**Disclaimer, I do not own Mario, Luigi, or Peach. They are owned by Nintendo. Also some of this story is from some of their games. For the sake of clarity on when this is happening.**

* * *

"When will you two come back home? It's been a long time science you were taken." A distressed mother worried.

"Calm down. Remember, the princess and that that stupid clone were taken too. That kid is troublesome, and I'm glad he was taken initially. However, the Yoshis and the storks won't leave a baby behind, even if they are an evil fire breathing Koopa prince. More babies take longer to rescue." A man soothed his spouse.

"Why can't they just leave those two behind?" The female asked again. "They will be trouble in the future, I can feel it."

"Don't worry, if they are, our sons will stop them." The apprehensive father sighed. He couldn't wait to have his little boys back.

"I know hon, Mario will _never_ be a bad boy, we'll make sure of that." She replied.

"Well he makes my little girl happy, I'm sure they're having a wonderful adventure." Another figure stepped onto the balcony. The couple immediately knelt at his feet.

"Sire!" The man said. "We did not hear your approach."

"That's okay," The king said, gesturing for the other two to rise. "I guess none of us can enjoy the party can we?"

The three worried parents stood on the balcony stargazing. Toadsworth watched them mournfully. He hoped the young masters would return soon too. The two already had a worrisome past, their arrival being late and all, but kidnapped once more along with a slew of other babies was just cruel.

Toadsworth was snapped out of his thoughts when the king's breath suddenly became heavier and pained.

"Your highness, is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"I,... can't breath!" The king wheezed. The other couple were clutching their necks in desperation as well, but all three of the humans fell to their knees before dropping to the floor.

Dread grasped Toadsworth and pinned him in his place. The ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom was dying.

"Toadsworth," The King whispered before drawing in his final breath. "Take care, of my daughter." he whispered before a shudder passed through his body, then he was still.

Toadsworth waited, frozen in place by horror at the King's death, as if somehow by waiting he might come back. The night had become silent. The sounds of the party inside the castle had ceased. Finally Toadsworth trudged over to the King's body.

"I,...I will, sire." He promised, then Toadsworth glanced at the other two bodies lying motionless on the floor before repeating "I will, no matter how long it takes."

* * *

Toadsworth went into the library. It had been a while since the King had showed him the secret book that was not actually a book at all. It was a switch to open a door to the part of the library that the public were not free to roam. Toadsworth crept inside the room and found the book he had come for. Carefully he flipped the pages, which were so old they where actually slabs of stone.

"The Great Release," he read out loud to himself, "is one of the remarkable occurrences the Mushroom and Beanbean Kingdoms have in common. It is the great release of spores that wipe out any physical mutations in toads, not including color or abilities, to keep them toads. It appears to occur every seventh millennium at the first full moon of spring." Toadsworth stopped reading the ancient text to process a different, more recent but still ancient, text. It was printed on a piece of papyrus stuck to the slab with honey.

"Warning, humans **will** choke on spores." Toadsworth read. He gulped. Now he knew, possibly all the humans in the Kingdom were dead.

* * *

The babies returned eventually, and Toadsworth took care of them, just like he promised. He was pleasantly surprised that E. Gadd had survived The Great Release. The young scientist said it was nothing. Weather or not it was nothing to survive a mass extinction and be the only adult of your species left was apparently not up to Toadsworth if the statement was true, but he was grateful for the young lad's help. All the toads pitched in in clearing the streets of the fallen homosapeins. Just because toads were fungus didn't mean they weren't revolted as an entire race dropped dead on the streets. The returned babies lived happily, until one day when the other baby prince Bowser attacked. Just like Alessandra had predicted,her son Mario stood up too the future Koopa King. Toadswirth educated Mario on how to fight, while Luigi looked on with Peach. Toadsworth's joy over the victory was soon cut short, as the whole castle began to tremble violently.

* * *

Toadsworth relaxed and let himself be one with himself and the twist. As long as the princess was happy, he was doing all he could for the bros. Mario and Luigi coming out of the future had given him quite a scare, but now here he was on his own head in the future Mushroom Kingdom, spinning to entertain his princess. The other babies he had taken care of were off in their own time zone, saving it from ruthless aliens, the shroobs. _The Mario bros will save my home, I know they will; and one day, this will be my home. _Toadsworth thought.

* * *

Toadsworth winced as Mario coughed again. "I'm fine, really," The five year old insisted. Toadsworth wasn't so sure. Doctor Toadley had said it wasn't a normal illness that was ravaging the lungs of the brothers. The strange cough was ending the best time of theirs and the princess's lives. The trio were constantly getting pulled forward in time to do stuff with their future selves. They had done baseball, racing, tennis, even the olympics. Toadsworth did not think it was safe for babies to get frozen, burned, electrocuted, and blown up in an anti-gravitational, flying, and amphibious vehicles, but apparently he was the only one that thought that. Looking at the young princess now, Toadsworth admitted she was fine, although her not-so-soon-to be sweetheart was a different story. Toadsworth was snapped from his thoughts as Luigi and E. Gadd entered the room. Almost immediately Luigi broke down into a fit of coughing. Mario rushed to support his brother.

"This is not good. This is not good at all." E. Gadd said bluntly, all humor aside.

"Well, what's wrong?" Toadsworth asked. "Shroob spores," The professor answered. "Remember when Peach first arrived, and the King got all paranoid about her safety? I ran a probability generator to find out what ailments aliens could bring and actually got her a shot, which I tested on myself first, and then gave it to Wario as well later on. I think it's working on us, or it had already worked."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Toadsworth asked.

"Turns out the shroobs left spores that matched exactly what the vaccine was to fight against. It also turns out that they only affect humans."

"Why did you give it to that clone and not the original?" Toadsworth hissed.

"Because the original was not around when I found the last of the vaccine. " E. Gadd replied.

"But the shroobs invaded years ago, there's no way the spores are still in their lungs." Toadsworth spluttered.

"That's the way these spores act," The professor replied. "There are two types of spores that were released. One set stays and spreads in the air, while the other set goes into the body and waits. In a few years, when the airborne spores have spread as wide as they can, the ones in the body activate, and clog the lungs. The airborne spores replace the ones in the body as much as they need to."

"So," Peach asked, "What can we do?"

"Simple," Toadsworth answered, "We just send them away, in a couple days, for a couple days, maybe to Delfino."

"Not that simple." E. Gadd corrected. "They must go now, and there is nowhere that we know of they can go."

"What!" Hollered Luigi. His cry deteriorated into a flurry of frenzied coughs.

"What does he mean?" Peach asked.

"They're going to send us away!" Mario wailed.

"Why?" Peach whined.

"They will die if we don't." E. Gadd said simply.

"Why can't you just use a 1 up?" Luigi pointed out.

E. Gadd sighed. "Luigi there's f-" "Four types of dying," Mario interrupted. "died, wiped out, KOed, and game overed-" "and killed died." E. Gadd added.

Mario was rather taken aback. "Killed died?" he asked. "What's that?"

"When you're killed-died there is no way to come back," Toadsworth explained.

"Never?" Luigi asked.

"Never," Toadsworth confirmed. Silence seized the room. Toadsworth let the kids process what that meant. Living in a world when there was always a way back, even from world -1, it was quite shocking to them. Finally Peach spoke: "Is that what happened to our parents?" The question Filled Toadsworth with dread and tainted his mouth with a taste similar to that of bile. He gulped nervously and answered her question: "Yes, that's what happened to your parents."

"Where did our parents come from?" Luigi asked.

. "All of the humans that used to live here either came here from, or are descended from those world came from,... another world." Toadsworth answered.

"Another world?" Mario asked in wonder.

"Yes, another world on a whole other level of reality." Toadsworth turned to Luigi, wondering why he was getting off topic, but he looked deep in thought.

Mario took the tangent and ran with it. "If the humans came here, then how did they become the royals of the MK?"

"Stop it!" Peach yelled. "Have you all forgotten the problem? Mario and Luigi will die, killed-die, eventually; maybe even soon if we don't take them away, yet there is no where in this world where we can take them!"

Luigi turned to E. Gadd. "Can the spores float through different levels of reality?" He asked. A smile finally worked itself back on the professor's face. "No, no they can't; great thinking Luigi!" he said, he whisked over to his console (which was about as simple as a thousand sound control booths) and started pushing seemingly random buttons very rapidly.

"We'll send them to the human world," he said, obviously very excited. "It's the only way."

"But humans that have come from the human world in the past are different from those that live in the kingdom today. You can't send these two back, they're different!" Toadsworth objected.

"Yes, the spores that naturally occur regularly in the MK will alter the human body and enhance its performance, that is true," E Gadd confirmed.

"Then they will have to be turned back, we can't send them there." Toadsworth argued.

"We can put them there, but you don't want to." E. Gadd corrected. "and it _enhances_ our physical abilities to keep pace with those of the original residents. Without it there is no way humans would have survived in this world, and it will only aid them in their own."

"But, but, but…" Toadsworth stammered."

"Believe me, if I knew what what power I would have gained, I wouldn't have made my self immune to the enhancing spores," E. Gadd said. "but I suppose I was able to survive the great release thanks to that elixir so I should be grateful."

E. Gadd stopped pressing buttons and picked up a small rectangular box with buttons and a screen on it that was resting on the console.

"I call it my Game & Watch Klaxon," He said with a hint of pride in his voice and on his face. "Or GAWK for short."

"Why is it a Klaxon?" Toadsworth asked before a loud wailing emanating from the machine silenced him. E Gadd's happiness cascaded off his face, replaced by fear. "That's why," He said. "I made it to warn me, but I've repurposed it for all-purposes; such as finding dimensional holes when our time has run out. Come along boys!" He called to the twins. "Quickly now!" he said, opening the door that led to the outside.

"You're leaving now?" Toadsworth gaped incredulously.

"We have no choice. There is no reason to delay and every reason to hurry." glanced meaningfully at The Mario bros. "Your lives are on the line." He said. Their motionlessness dissipated and the duo followed E. Gadd as he jogged down the hall to the outside.

"Goodbye!" Peach called from the lab. Toadsworth wiped back the tears that began forming in her eyes.

"I await your safe return young masters." He said. "Just like before I will wait, however long it takes."

Peach hugged Toadsworth tightly, which she was the perfect size to do. "I will wait as well," She whispered. "You will return Mario, I know you will. This is not a final goodbye."


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry this took so long, password problems. **

**Sooooooooo; Enjoy, hope you like, and thank you for your time. **

**Disclaimer: Mario and Luigi belong to Nintendo.**

Mario stepped back to take in his newest work and reflected how sad it was he'd pulled it off so easily. Once upon a time people would line the street 24/7 to get a glance at the main attraction. Now that time was long gone, and cheap security cameras where the only things with eyes on the magnificent, ancient structure.

_That will all change soon, _Mario thought with a delinquent smirk. _All the world will have their eyes on my masterpiece by morning, maybe sooner. I should clear out._

Mario picked up some of the empty spraypaint cans at his feet and threw them in the trash before thinking: _What's the point? Weather or not their in the trash, they'll end up in the fingers of the police._

Mario turned and jumped to the top of the nearest building. as soon as his feet touched the platform he took off, sprinting along the roofs of the town, never touching the ground. In a matter of minutes he arrived on the outskirts of town, and at the thermal train station. The train ran on heat energy, and its rails were so hot you could get a third degree burn from getting too close.

Mario hopped right on straight from the roof and hit the rails running. He had no idea why it didn't bother him, it just didn't. There was a voluminous list of stuff Mario didn't know about himself.

He didn't know why he couldn't bruise, or why he couldn't cut himself. He could feel physical pain, but on a level that was obviously dimmer to everyone else's; and he had absolutely no clues whatsoever of why he loved red as much as all get-out. But worst of all, Mario didn't know where he came from. Ten years ago Mario woke up in Italy with no memory at all except for his own name, Luigi's name, and the fact that Luigi was his brother. The world was not a welcoming place for the two five year olds. No one would take in kids, because they did not want to break the E.R.L.s. The Earth Resurrection Laws were in place to revive earth, (which they already had)and keep it a beautiful place. Mario's least favorite of the E.R.L.'s was the set that was supposed to prevent overpopulation. Each couple was only allowed to have one set of children, and they were only allowed to have that set if all the orphanages in the world where empty. The urge to reproduce is a strong one, and if everyone was only allowed to go through _the procedure_ once, they wanted to go for it. Since the human race's HQ was on Mars, those on Earth could get away with a lot, like not putting orphans in orphanages.

_It means I can get away with a lot too. _Mario thought.

All the super intense crimes to be solved by super intense gadgets were on the Moon and Mars. As a result of the E.R.L.'s the high-tech gadgets all were also on the Moon and Mars. As a result, life on Earth had not really advanced at all. It was like the Homarsapiens and the Homoonsapeins had stuck the earth in a giant time machine and turned back the clock to around the time smartphones were invented, but swapped out everything that was hurting the environment to eco-friendly alternatives, like the train that was barreling towards Mario. He had spotted the blinding headlights far before, and didn't even wince when they loomed a meter from his face. Without really thinking Mario deftly jumped over the engine and sprinted down the length of the train. He hurtled off the caboose and hit the rails still running. Mario's tireless energy supplied a swift, steady, pace that only he, and his brother could accomplish. In no time, but quite some distance, another rail joined Mario's, one that ran on electric energy instead of heat. They dipped into a tunnel. Mario followed the rails into the darkness, carefully measuring his footsteps before abruptly jumping to the side. Mario landed in a little cave in the tunnel.

"You in here?" he called to the darkness.

A single grunt answered his question. Something shifted in the small tunnel and a gust of air shot past Mario. It was hard to see, but Mario could just barely make out the outline of his brother, Luigi; who had landed on the electric rail nimbly.

"Ready to move out?" Mario asked.

His twin nodded. "But I got a snack for you first." Luigi tossed Mario a bright red apple. How did Mario know it was red? He had not the slightest clue, but he just... knew. Mario bit into the apple. The crunch echoed in the tunnel, just a little too loudly to only be from one apple.

"Did you get one too?" He asked Luigi.

"Um hum." Luigi responded, his mouth full. "They had granny smith today."

After their snack, the two brothers emerged from the tunnel. In an unspoken agreement they simultaneously started running northwest.

In a half hour they came across a sprawling winery. Leafy green vines with bunches of bulging red and green grapes went on for miles. Mario and Luigi sauntered down a strip of land between the red grape vineyard and the green grape vineyard, taking as much of either color as they pleased. Finally they came to a secret door enmeshed in grapevines. After entering a passcode, the door slid smoothly open. Inside was the bros' secret base. It was a plush white space dotted with red and green items. Everything from Ipads to tooth brushes were color coded. Among the white items that the brothers shared where the walls, floors and ceilings, apart from those in their own personal bedrooms. In the main living area was a curved flat screen TV and a wraparound couch. Between the two lie a shag carpet.

Luigi immediately crashed on the couch, while Mario waded through a sea of red and green remotes and other types of controllers. When he found the right one, the TV flickered on to the program _Good Morning Italia! _Mario couldn't suppress a smile when he saw the breaking news head story.

"_The defacing of four of Italy's most amazing architectural feats has occurred!"_ The news anchor said. "_Ponte Vecchio, the Florence Cathedral, the Pantheon, and the worst of all, __the_ _Colosseum have been grotesquely defaced!"_

"I wouldn't say grotesquely." Mario commented. "It's not that bad"

"If you change any one of Italy's true marvels in any way, they'll call it grotesque." Luigi pointed out. "Even if it means straightening the leaning tower of Pisa, or restoring the colosseum to it's former glory. It's the fact that those exquisite buildings are old and crumbly that makes them so attractive."

"_This specific style and color graffiti are proof enough that the Scourge of Italy has struck again." _The TV continued "_I asked last time if he could do anything worse than his previous scandal, and he delivered."_

"You bet I did lady." Mario retorted.

"Indeed you did." said another voice.

As quick as he could be, Mario was kneeling in front of another.

Dante was the 22 year old owner of the winery. His father was imprisoned in space, and Dante had inherited his father's winery. He was a suspect in smuggling space weapons down to earth, where they where prohibited. Dante had taken in Mario and Luigi when no one else would. He even spoiled them, as long as they completed their errands for him. Mario owed him everything, and felt like Dante had saved his life.

"You two have outdone yourself." Dante remarked. "Mario, running all the way from Bologna to Rome and back in one night? Outstanding! And Luigi! The quality of your work on the Cathedral in florence? Amazing! Also, the clip of you playing the organ was simply magnificent!"

"Why thankyou." Luigi said blushing.

A loud wailing sounded as sirens went off. The TV screen switched from _Good Morning Italia!_ to the security monitors. A group of people in dark black uniforms attacked the grand front entrance of Dante's mansion. All of them were immensely tall, a common characteristic of humans who lived on Mars. Humans that lived on the moon would have been taller. All of them had gold badges that identified them as space police. Quickly, Dante stepped in front of the screen and shooed Mario and Luigi away from it. He pressed a button on the frame of the screen and a tiny camera poked out where Dante had pressed. On the live video feed of the front door, a small screen next to the tattered entranceway buzzed to live and Dante's face appeared on it.

"Why would you lovely gentleman be assaulting my establishment in such a rude manner?" he asked, rather fussily.

"You are under space arrest for contraband in your possession," one of the men said. "specifically space-developed technology that could be harmful to the fragile ecosystem here on Earth. Open the door before we break it down more than it already is."

"You have no proof." Dante proclaimed angrily. "Down on Earth you need something called a search warrant, remember?"

"Um Mario," Luigi murmured from somewhere behind his brother.

"Quiet!" Mario hissed, his eyes glued to the screen. He did not want to give them away to the authorities.

"We don't need a search warrant for space-related purposes," The guy said, not noticing anything amis behind Dante. "Besides, we _do_ have proof," he said, smiling. "It's behind you."

Mario whipped around quickly and jumped aside a second before a powerful blast reverberated the spot where he'd been standing.

A platoon of angry space police had found the back exit to Dante's mansion, much to Mario's astonishment. They held several weapons, a search warrant, a search warrant space-excuse, and a flustered Luigi; with a gun pressed to his head.

The guy on the screen sneered, his triumph was palpable.

Mario's heart burned with hatred.

And then all cheese-fudge broke loose.

Mario somersaulted backwards through the air, putting the couch between him and the police moments before it was blasted to bits. Mario flew out of those bits, and straight over the agent's heads, and sprinted outside to hide among the grapes; which he found he could not do. Heat seeking drones scanned the whole compound, and Mario got the sense they had just descended from space. Already, about ten had found him. A recorded warning to surrender and not move echoed from the speakers, which Mario ignored entirely. He sprinted around the mansion to its courtyard. The drones followed his every move. Mario dove into the pond, which despite the beautiful weather, was freezing cold. It was always kept this way, for the puffins that lived in it.

Dante had a very strange fascination with puffins.

Anyway, it did the trick. Each drone had settled on a puffin or two, and ignored Mario completely. Mario silently slipped out of the pond, suddenly incomprehensibly sleepy, and wandered into the mansion. The main showroom was very grand, but Mario didn't notice. He flopped on a couch, yawned, and went to sleep.

Only later would he remember Luigi.


End file.
